“In the coming years, NorthC wants to grow into the largest regional data center provider throughout Europe, with the DACH region being an important springboard,” said Alexandra Schless, CEO at NorthC Group.After acquiring IP Exchange for €44 million in September 2021 and its most recent acquisition of Switzerland-based Netrics in April this year, the NorthC Group from the Netherlands has set its sights on further expansion in the DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) region.
The name change from IP Exchange to NorthC Deutschland GmbH, together with the recent opening of the company’s first branches in Switzerland under the NortC label are the first steps in that direction. NorthC hopes to maintain this expansion throughout the DACH and eventually throughout the rest of Europe. For regional expertise and national locations, NorthC longs to build a whole European platform of interconnected regional data centers.
In the Netherlands, NorthC Group is one of the largest regional data center providers, with 11 regional data centers across the country.
New Managing Director DACH
To build and manage operations in the DACH region, NorthC has appointed industry pioneer Frank Zachmann. In his role as managing director, he is responsible for the overall leadership and day-to-day management of the German branch and for the expansion of the NorthC Group throughout the DACH region.
Mr. Zachmann can build on more than 25 years of relevant experience and has actively shaped the market for colocation providers in Germany since the late 1990s. His previous roles include Vice President Business Development EMEA for data center company Equinix and Group Director Marketing & Strategy at Interxion.
“The appointment of Frank Zachmann as managing director and the name change to NorthC Deutschland GmbH is another step in our growth strategy,” said Alexandra Schless, CEO at NorthC Group. “In the coming years, NorthC wants to grow into the largest regional data center provider throughout Europe, with the DACH region being an important springboard. As an experienced manager with unparalleled knowledge in this sector, Frank is the right person to propagate our market approach and vision in the German-speaking countries. We find that our local focus and personal approach is catching on with customers in Germany and Switzerland. That approach, coupled with our focus on continuity, connectivity and sustainability, will be the key to our broad European success.”
Expansion Plans into Austria
NorthC provides hybrid multi-cloud solutions, colocation services and customized connectivity solutions for small regional businesses, medium-sized enterprises, large organizations, government agencies and cloud and IT service providers. NorthC claims to be able to give the same level of service and consulting quality at each regional site as exclusively local suppliers because of local staff and management structures.
Mr. Zachmann has ambitious aspirations for the German-speaking area. He intends to penetrate the Austrian market in addition to opening a number of other branches in Germany and Switzerland over the following three years. NorthC Group emphasizes its experience in the southern German region with the opening of its first two branches there. The two certified green data centers are located in Nuremberg and Munich, respectively, and each one is 10,500 square meters in size. Both data centers are certified to the highest levels of security and are constructed in accordance with the DIN 50600 CAT III standard.
